Villasenor Dazzles in Welterweight Debut at Jackson’s MMA Series 6

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Five months ago, Joey
Villasenor returned to fight in his native New Mexico for the
first time since 2004.

The bout was memorable -- but for all the wrong reasons: Villasenor
and UFC veteran Chris
Camozzi battled to a split draw at Shark Fights 15. Some two
months later the New Mexico Athletic Commission overturned the
decision, ruling that a scoring error had incorrectly awarded the
decision to Villasenor.

Rather than dwell on the controversy, Villasenor moved forward. He
called Camozzi to congratulate him and then prepared to cut to
welterweight after years of competing at middleweight.

When his scheduled 170-pound debut vs. Che Mills at
British Association of Mixed Martial Arts 7 on Sept. 10 fell
through, he took the time to perfect his weight cut.

“I just let [the last fight] go,” Villasenor said. “That’s what
professionals do. I let it go, and I started a new life at
170.”

The beginning of the end came when Villasenor caught a
hard-charging Parmelee with a short left hook that stunned his
opponent. Villasenor wasted little time from there, following up
with a barrage of punches before referee Craig Zellner stopped the
action at the 2:47 mark of the opening frame.

“I was just waiting for the right shot,” Villasenor said. “He was
rushing, being really aggressive. I think I angled out on him and
he lost eye contact with me. By the time he looked up I believe I
was landing the left hook. My teammates know that I love to box
inside the pocket.”

By the time fight night rolled around, Villasenor says he weighed
around 190 pounds. He weighed 210 pounds at the beginning of the
process and credits nutrition coach George Lockhart -- who aided
Jackson’s
Mixed Martial Arts teammate Brian Stann
in his move from 205 to 185 -- with making the transition
easier.

“He sent me a diet plan, a week of cut plan and a reload plan. All
I did was go through it and I made 170. It was the easiest cut I
ever had. I wasn’t drained,” Villasenor said.

While Lopez had highlight reel slams of Leyva in both the first and
second round and opened a cut above Leyva’s nose in the third, it
was the Jackson’s MMA representative’s relentless pace that
ultimately earned the nod from the judges.

Richard Espinoza scored the bout 30-27 for Leyva, as did J.J.
Jaramillo, while Andres Anaya saw it 29-28 in favor of the
victor.

“That dude was tough. He threw some bombs, and some of them landed,
as you can see,” Leyva said while pointing to his cut.

Crosby was aggressive early, attacking Hunter with his kickboxing
and pressing him against the cage. Tucker was able to punish Crosby
with knees from that position, however, and after not being able to
lock in his first choke attempt, he made Crosby tap at 2:28 of the
second round.

“It felt deep a couple of times, but he did a really good job of
defending it once it was in,” Tucker said. “Thankfully I got it in
the second round.”

At flyweight, Team Scrub product Freddie Lux
remained unbeaten with a split decision victory against Jackson’s
MMA’s Nick
Urso. Judges Richard Espinoza and Eric Vasquez saw it 29-28 in
favor of Lux, while J.J. Jaramillo scored it 29-28 for Urso.

Much of the bout was characterized by the excellent defensive
guards of both competitors, but the contest was likely decided by a
couple of timely Lux takedowns in a closely contested third
round.

In the first professional fight of the night, Las Cruces, N.M.,
native Nate
Patterson battered Jackson’s Rich Chavez
with low kicks for the duration of their featherweight tussle. With
Chavez’s takedown ability limited from the assault, Patterson was
able to control the action on the feet and earn a unanimous
decision. All three judges scored the contest 30-27 for
Patterson.

Albuquerque’s Ricky Esquibel kicked off the amateur portion of the
card with a unanimous decision win over Santa Fe’s Juan Carlos Mora
in the bantamweight debut for both fighters. All three judges
scored the bout 30-27 in favor of Esquibel.

Jackson MMA’s Adam
Gonzales needed just 16 seconds to score a technical knockout
over Hayashi Martial Arts representative Fabian
Salas via strikes on the ground at middleweight, while Jackson
MMA’s John Sparks
submitted Hayashi Martial Arts’ Adam McGuirk with a rear-naked
choke at the 1:25 mark of the opening frame at lightweight.